tirsdag 12. august 2014

mandag 11. august 2014

Imagine living back in the late 1910s, most people walked or bicycled if not traveling by train or ship.

Private transportation, by means of either car or motorcycle was for most people still a dream.

No wonder the entire family lines up for a photo when their relative come by to show his brand new Indian Power Plus.

This is a really good picture, even if it is torn and abused. Look at this cool guy on his Henderson De-luxe.

Picture is taken in Sauda, an industrial city located in the bottom of a fjord in western Norway. An electric furnace melted ferrosilicium, power to feed the electrodes was supplied by the waterfall from the mountains.

Between the two great wars, small industrial cities like Sauda and Odda flourished and there was plenty off well paid work, hence some could buy quality motorbikes and cars.

The Henderson owner seems to be a guy without worries, well dressed and free to go where ever he want in his time off from the factory.

This photo is taken in 1932 and the bike is still not ten years old, despite this the original headlamp have gone and is replaced with two smaller bullet lights. This looks all right in a way, was quite common in the US too.

søndag 10. august 2014

This is such a cute image, entire family including the dog is packed on the trusty Harley for a weekend trip.

Father is in control, the oldest son on the pillow eager to catch up with how to ride the bike himself (one day), Mom resting in the comfortably cushioned sidecar seat with the family dog at her legs, the two minor siblings tucked away in the luggage compartment of the sidecar.

A motorcycle ride like this, in great weather, cross the nearby mountains, stop for a rest in the sun, could life be better?

fredag 8. august 2014

fredag 1. august 2014

Holy crap, July went by in a blink.
And hey, when did we last see a July month with 99% nice weather and bathing temperatures as if in Mediterranean countries ?
Under such conditions I rather live my life off the computer, rather than pleasing the readers (if any) of this blog. I feel sorry for your disappointment at me, still this is the truth.

Back on the sea, a short summary of the time passed since last.

I had since quite a while planned to visit the "Fuckers chopper fest" in Dalarna Sweden along with my friend Patrick.
My bike for this ride would have to be Bessie, not much of a chopper!
On the other hand my friend Patrick rode a Matchless, neither a chopper nor an US bike, still a very cool motorcycle.

Prior to the ride I had to change my primary chain, it appears I had run this to dry, shame on me.
I also replaced the adjustment screw on the oil pump for this chain, as the original set up is by shim, whilst the later have a lock nut.
Had to ride from South Norway to Oslo to catch up with Patrick, chose the main roads as this was transportation only.
From Oslo we found some really nice country roads for the remaining 400 km`s. When almost there at the Fuckers I suggested we picked a really small road on the map to get to the goal faster, that was a MISTAKE.
We ended up getting really lost on Swedish gravel roads, no signs, had to ask people for directions, oh my is Sweden sparsely populated even in Dalarna.
I learned a lesson!!
I should mention Bessie almost ran out of battery too during this last part with gravel roads, she died every time I used the rear brake due to the brake light came on, no so convenient!!

When arriving at the Fuckers friday evening we found we were the only ones there, eh except from the local organizer. Fuckers normally arrive at Saturday, hey that came out wrong, Fuckers starts at Saturday.
I got my best sleep in a long time in the tent that night, at Turbo festplats in the middle of Swedish nowhere, not a sound to be heard.

Saturday showed up with great weather, and a very very quiet morning, just the birds sang, still no "Fuckers" other than me, Patrick and three young guys from up north in Sweden that had arrived late Friday.
During lunch time more Fuckers started arriving and I learned to know a bunch of great people I had not met before. Sometime around two o'clock a crowd of Jokers and a bunch of their friends arrived and the place started getting packed with bikes and folks.
Who was there at Fuckers?
Many whom I knew from other events trough the years and some I learned to know now, guys from Sweden, UK, Belgium, Finland, US and Germany (I think that was all?).

Afternoon there was supper served by the organizers, something chili that got more than my internals to get into some heavy digestion work.
People chilled with Swedish beers (I say no more) and Patrick was busy in capturing most of the bikes with his camera. Later on a band started playing and there was more talking and lying and suddenly it was early in the morning and time to get some sleep before leaving.

Took off at lunch time and rode "NOT" the fastest way from Turbo Festplats but rode some paved roads this time.
Had some rain showers on our way back to Norway, but mostly we zigzagged between the downpours.
Having crossed the border I left Patrick by himself, he was to ride to Oslo whilst I was heading North to continue on tour for another week (but that is another story).

Me

Been working as engineer in the drilling bussiness for 10 years, now as drilling rig electrician for another 10 years.
Want to use this blog to show the rest of the world (if anyone should ever be interested) some pics from my local bike scene where I live in Norway and some of the stuff I do to and with my bikes and the people I meet trough this interrest.